Netflix had many of its most popular shows return in 2025, including Stranger Things, Squid Game, Cobra Kai and Wednesday.
However, none of those franchise hits managed to match the quality of Netflix’s elite series across all genres.
Now that the year is winding down, Watch With Us is sharing our picks for the five best Netflix shows of 2025.
This year, three out of the five picks belonged to drama series, but two of Netflix’s most beloved comedies earned a place as well.
5. ‘Nobody Wants This’ (2024 – Present)
The ongoing courtship of Joanne Williams (Kristen Bell) and Noah Roklov (Adam Brody) continues in Nobody Wants This season 2. Netflix values this show so much that it had a new season ready to go just 13 months after the show’s premiere. This feel-good romantic comedy is about a Rabbi and an atheist who fall deeply in love.
At the end of season 1, Noah chose his love for Joanne over the coveted Head Rabbit job he wanted so badly. Joanne and Noah’s worlds were already colliding, but now they’re faced with harder questions about how they intend to fit into each other’s lives and the sacrifices they’re willing to make in the name of this relationship. True love can and does get really messy on this series, but Bell and Brody are so appealing as the lead characters that it’s fun to watch Joanne and Noah together.
Nobody Wants This is streaming on Netflix.
4. ‘Dept. Q’ (2025 – Present)
There’s nothing like a good British mystery series to liven things in the streaming-verse. Dept. Q is one of the most engrossing Netflix shows of the year, thanks to the intensity of Matthew Goode as Carl Morck. Carl is a police detective who survived a tragedy that claimed the life of another officer and left his partner, James Hardy (Jamie Sives), paralyzed. To get Carl out of the way, his superiors have dumped him into an underfunded cold case investigation unit.
Carl’s new job inspires other outcasts, including Rose Dickson (Leah Byrne) and Akran Salim (Alexej Manvelov), to join Department Q, while even James provides remote support. Their first case together revolves around the disappearance of prosecutor Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie), a woman who has been missing for years. The show also quickly reveals Merritt’s current whereabouts, but you’ll have to keep watching to find out who took her and why.
Dept. Q is streaming on Netflix.
3. ‘Forever’ (2025 – Present)
Judy Blume’s beloved young adult novel Forever… celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, and the story never felt more timely than with the modern reboot it received on Netflix. Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr. lead the series as high school athletes Keisha Clark and Justin Edwards, respectively. They had known each other for years before, but they reconnected as teens and suddenly experienced their first true feelings of romantic love.
Keisha and Justin share a powerful bond, but their newfound relationship faces a lot of tests. They may both be athletes, but they have different goals, different circumstances and immense family pressure weighing down on them. Are they prepared for the sacrifices it will take to keep them together? We’ll all find out when season 2 arrives.
Forever is streaming on Netflix.
2. ‘Adolescence’ (2025)
We’ve already mentioned the feel-good show on this list. Adolescence is the feel-bad show. This is an immaculately produced miniseries, but it’s also a tough watch as 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) is arrested for the murder of his classmate. The fallout from that arrest emotionally crushes his parents, Eddie (Stephen Graham) and Manda Miller (Christine Tremarco), as well as Jamie’s sister, Lisa (Amélie Pease).
Each episode is filmed as if it were one long continuous take. Cooper won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a miniseries for his intense performance in episode 3 opposite Erin Doherty as psychologist Briony Ariston. I think Cooper is going to be a major star if he can be this good regularly. Graham and Doherty won Emmys for their performances as well, and Adolescence took home the prize of Outstanding Limited Series. There’s no question about the quality of this show; you just may be seriously depressed after watching it.
Adolescence is streaming on Netflix.
1. ‘A Man on the Inside’ (2024 – Present)
There’s a real argument that can be made that Adolescence deserves the top spot on this list, but I picked A Man on the Inside because it doesn’t make me want to crawl into a ditch and despair about the state of the world. This mystery comedy is just a joy to watch, and it feels like Netflix’s answer to Only Murders in the Building — minus all of the murders, of course.
Ted Danson leads the cast as Charles Nieuwendyk, and he’s lost none of the charm that’s served him very well over the last four decades of sitcoms. Charles is a retired professor who reclaims his purpose in life as a private detective’s assistant; he’s just not very good at being discreet about it. Season 2 finds Charles on a new case he goes undercover as a professor at Wheeler College, as the campus is seemingly being blackmailed into refusing a billionaire’s donation. This season, Danson’s real-life wife, Mary Steenburgen, joined the cast as Charles’ new love interest (and potential suspect), Mona Margadoff.
A Man on the Inside is streaming on Netflix.
